The male's eyes couldn't focus on him. “Jonas, Captain,” he managed to say.
Something stirred in Jake as he stepped forward and knelt down. It was like the gears of a machine left to rust had come to life and he knew exactly what he had to do. He freed his hand from the female nafalli and set his arm command unit to perform a medical scan, extended his hand over the male and took a reading.
“Oomal is suffering from dehydration, exhaustion and has a virus. It's not contagious at the moment and I can use my materializer to make medication for him.”
Other refugees were coming to watch, most of them nafalli. Ramirez stood up, having regained his senses a bit, and quietly directed everyone with his hands. “Please stay back, he needs room.”
A couple of the furry multitude actually began to help him keep order, gently forming a barrier. One tried to break through, yelling; “Food! Give us food! Some of them have hidden it from the rest of us! We need food!”
“Ramirez, stun him if he breaks through,” Jake said as he finished programming the needed medication into his arm command unit. It began materializing it right away.
Two large nafalli grabbed the one trying to break through and dragged him off. “Be careful with him! I don't think he means any harm!” Ramirez shouted after them.
Jake started taking off his arm command unit and looked to the female who had brought him there. “Okay, I'm going to inject this,” he whispered. “It'll take a moment for it to medicate him.”
“I should have known the First Light would come,” she whispered back, putting one slender hand on his shoulder.
He shook his head. “I don't know anything about that ship, and I'm sorry I don't know you, but I will help you.” Oomal had already passed out but the medical scanner indicated the medication was starting to work.
“Don't remember me?”
Jake looked around for a moment then focused on Ramirez; “Don't repeat what I'm about to say to anyone.”
Ramirez nodded. “Yes sir.”
He looked back to the female nafalli. “I'm missing everything before the last five years, I don't know why, only that I was in a pod just like the ones in the forward compartment.”
The female's eyes went wide. “Your mate looks for you. She said you were taken by Vindyne. She misses you.”
“How long ago?”
“It must have been over seven core world years.”
Jake wanted to know more but all around him people were next to dying from dehydration, starvation and disease. His instincts lead him in a direction that was completely selfless for the first time in years. “I have other questions, but for now it's important that you take care of him. The medication will do its work and I'll inject him with nutritional necessities and an accelerator so his immune system works faster but without you I don't think he'll be happy.” He said as he knelt down low on one side and very cautiously pulled out all his meal replacement bars. There was enough there to last both of them for two days. He put them very carefully under the edge of the nest and looked down to indicate where they were to the woman.
She followed his eye line and saw what he was doing then she looked back up at him, her eyes welling up with tears. “You may have forgotten yourself, Jonas, but you are still a good man. You are very good.” When she pulled him into her arms he could feel that under all that fur, which he could see was originally white, she was nothing but skin and bones.
Triage
The medical supplies were gone in two hours. Finn joined the rest of the repair and maintenance crew that wasn't already helping in the cargo container get the only materializer on board running. It wasn't high resolution enough to make medications, but it could start converting energy into bandages, blankets, light foods and other very basic items of moderate density.
Some of the rescued slaves were essential to their success, keeping their fellow captives calm and under control as those that could walk lined up for food from the galley and ship stores. The processed nutrient packages that the crew found bland and poorly textured were a Godsend for the over four thousand survivors who were crammed into that one kilometre long cargo container.
The hull of the vessel was cold in some places. The girding and decking used to separate it into different floors were made from scrap materials. It must have taken a long time to build it regardless of the quality. Whoever was responsible had put a great deal of premeditation into it. They knew exactly what they were doing.
“Captain, we're running out of food and we haven't fed half of them.” Came the communication from Stephanie.
“We still have fourteen tons of fruit in preserve crates. Break them open.”
“Yes sir,” he could hear her smiling over his ear communicator. The nausea had overtaken him again as he went from one person to another, but he was able to control it after re-medicating himself. It was a race against time, and spared little thought for his own condition as he treated one captive after another.
Jake already drained his power cell and had to swap the one in his arm unit with the one in his sidearm. It was the only object that could materialize medications and complex items, but it wasn't made to do so constantly.
“Valance to Frost,” he verbally commanded the channel open as he treated an issyrian with an advanced lung infection.
“Frost here.”
“Where the hell is Burke?”
“He's not comin' sir. Nothin' I've said will convince him to go down there. He knows we're not bringin' this ship back to Regent Galactic. Doesn't expect to get paid.”
“Okay, I'll take care of Burke. As far as everyone else is concerned, you'll be paid just as if we pulled down fifteen mil for this job, I'll pay everyone a share out of my own accounts. That is, unless they're not doing their job or helping back here. Those people get nothing but a swift toss down the gangway at the next port. Pass the word.”
“Will do sir.”
“Valance to Ashley.”
“Ashley here, what can I do for you sir?”
“How far are we from Thadd?”
“With the acceleration we're pulling and the straight line we're on, a little over four hours.”
“Are you sure you're still operating within safety limits?”
“Would I disobey orders with precious cargo in tow? We've been headed that way for almost six hours now and are just starting to decelerate.”
“Six hours.” Captain Valance repeated quietly. It felt like two.
“How has the ride been back there by the way?”
“Steady, not much rattle. Listen, take it easy. The hull back here isn't consistently dense and there are no emergency bulkheads or life craft.”
There was silence for a minute. He was putting his command unit back on while the issyrian he had assisted thanked him. “The drugs I gave you will help your immune system fight the infection and there's a decongestant that will help you breathe clearer for the next few days. You have to tell the medic that you've been treated when he sees you.”
“Thank you Doctor, I haven't been able to breathe or sleep properly in days.”
“You're welcome, I'm not a Doctor, I'm the Captain.”
“Well thank you Captain-”
“-Valance.” Jake finished shaking the man's hand and started looking for someone else in distress as he turned his attention back to Ashley. “Ash, are you still there?”
“Yes sir, I was listening. What are you doing? I mean, if you don't mind me asking.”
“Diagnosing and treating people down here with my command unit,” he replied as he knelt down beside an issyrian and a nafalli. One was above the other in a rickety double bunk. He shook his head and moved on after confirming they had both died long before he arrived. He started to realize how tired he was as he sighed. For each one that was in line for food or couldn't get there on their own and needed treatment, there were five dead.
“It's bad down there.” Ashley said in his ear. It wasn't a question, it was a realization.
“Yes, it is Ash.”
“Are you okay?” Ashley asked in a whisper.
It was a surprising question, no one had asked him in years. He looked around for a moment before answering. “I could be worse. Just make sure we get there in one piece, I trust you.”
“Thank you sir, I will.”
Cynthia broke into communications just then. “Captain, we have a response from Thadd Search and Rescue; They stand ready and will accept our refugees.”
A wave of relief washed over Jake, the like of which he had never felt before. “Make sure everyone involved in helping back here is informed that we'll have more help in less than five hours and they pass that information on to whoever they come in contact with.”
“Yes sir.”
“Don't offer an accurate time frame, add an hour just in case we get held up.”
Jake tried to find his way back to Loori and Oomal without any success at first. He had to walk through the maze of makeshift cloth walls and rickety bunks for several minutes just to get his bearings. Then he set out again down what looked like more of a main hallway and caught sight of Ramirez who was still standing near them with a pair of light cylinders at his feet.
He walked over and was embraced by Loori. “He's so much better now, see?” She said, walking him right over to her husband's side.
He was still laying down, and really didn't look much better to Jake, but the racial barrier was pretty high. His medical knowledge told him a slightly different story on a quick second inspection. Oomal's nose had stopped discharging bloody pus, his eyes were clear and he was able to sit up a bit and look around.
Someone had brought them water from the Samson's ship stores in a large jug and some clean blankets. Just as he was wondering what Ramirez was still doing there, he realized that he had two small preserve crates behind him and he was handing out bananas, oranges and pears out to anyone who approached him. To his right was several jugs of water and a tall pile of blankets that was shrinking quickly. The frenzied fight for food was over since lines had formed and people were passing it out.
“Thank you Captain Valent,” Oomal said, extending a long arm.
Captain Valance took the bony hand and shook it gently, he was still weak. “Is that the name you knew me by before?”
“It is, my mate tells me you cannot remember your life. You do look different.”
“My husband, who should be resting not talking, is right. You look different, but not so much your mate would not know you,” Loori said, sitting down beside her husband and putting one arm across his chest.
“Who was she?”
“Her name is Ayan. She was a pretty woman, about this high” Loori held her hand at her mid chest level. “With red hair and blue eyes. We met you in a restaurant called Marconi's on Zingara station. They had very good-” she looked to her husband for a moment, searching for the word.
“I am resting,” he said, closing his eyes and pretending to sleep.
She pulled on a little tuft of his fur and he looked back up. “You mean to say spaghetti.”
“Yes, spaghetti. You were the Captain of the First Light, she was the Engineer.”
Jake thought for a moment. “Do you know anything about my daughter?”
Oomal and Loori looked at each other then back to Jake. “I did not know about your daughter.”
“We did not meet her,” Oomal confirmed.
“Thank you, I hope I can find out more after we get to the Thadd system, but for now I need to ask you a few things about how you ended up here.”
“You do not know?” Loori asked, cocking her head.
“We were hired to retrieve a stolen cargo train with criminals and colonists aboard.”
“This is not that train. We were trading on Sangesh and were attacked on our way back to the ship. Oomal was stunned and I was able to fight them long enough for our children to flee. I still don't know if they made it, I have not been able to find them here.”
“You didn't break any laws? Didn't have a bounty on your head?”
She shook her head, showing no sign that she took offence to the question.
“What happened next?”
“They took us to a labour camp somewhere in the Toxteth system where we-” She looked to Oomal again and he shrugged. “I am sorry, we have been speaking our own language for a long time, it's hard to remember object words in yours.”
“Were you mining? Underground?” Ramirez asked before the Captain could activate his translator.
“Yes! We were mining in a big open hole. Many died, it was very dangerous. For more than a year.”
“Almost two years,” Added Oomal, nodding.
“Yes. Then some humans in black armour came and bought all the slaves who were not human. They put us in large shuttles and put us to sleep with gas. When we awoke we were in this place, for more than thirty days.”
“Did you find out who purchased you? Were there any markings anywhere?”
“It was Regent.”
“Regent Galactic?” I asked.
“Yes, they were the ones. They put us in here, left food, water, but after a while the food started running out and the hoarding started. Oomal got sick.”
“Do you know how to contact your children?”
“Yes!” Loori exclaimed happily.
“Okay, we'll be getting to the Thadd system in about four hours. Take this, my comm number as well as the ship's are programmed in. When we arrive just call the bridge and they can patch you through so you can contact your children. Just don't tell anyone else. We don't have the resources or a complex enough communications system aboard to host thousands of transmissions,” Jake told them as he handed them a small transmitter.
“Thank you Captain!” Loori said, embracing him for the third time.
“Thank you Jonas Valent,” Oomal said, patting his back.
“That is rude Oomal, he is not called that anymore, he is Captain Valance now.”
“We must know who we were to know who we are Loori, I am only helping.”
“I have to go take care of something before we arrive,” Jake said as she let him go.
Ramirez cleared his throat. “I'll stay with them and make sure they can get through to the bridge Captain. We're just starting to get to know each other.”
“Thank you, I'll remember this Hernando.”
“Call me Hernan.”
Jake Valance made his way to the main doors, people stared at him as he went by. As he drew closer to the entrance he could see the lines for food. There was one to the left, another to the right, and two right up the middle. Stephanie was directing the traffic with the help of several of the slaves. At the entrance they had stacked up all the crates that would fit through the door. There were maintenance staff taking the empties and running them back to the Samson's cargo hold so they could refill them with fruit. It was as fresh as the day it was picked thanks to the preserve systems built into the crates.
“We will be handing out food until we arrive in the Thadd system in four hours, then rescue teams will come on board with supplies and medical staff. Please be patient when they arrive, you will be escorted off this cargo container and into a safe place where you will be able to contact your people,” Stephanie was saying as Jake approached, she was a little hoarse.
He put his hand on her shoulder. “Think you should take a break? Have someone else start yelling?”
“There's no one else sir. Everyone whose willing to lend a hand has something to do. Us boarding crew are just keeping the peace.”
“Has there been any trouble?”
“Well, we had part of the deck collapse in one corner, no one was hurt though. A few have tried to run out of the cargo container. We had to let one of them into the Samson, he's sleeping in the forward cargo deck.”
“Wow, couldn't catch him?”
“Nope, he was climbing walls like there was no gravity. He just needed to get out. Once he saw the inside of the Samson I guess he realized it was smalle
r than where he'd come from and just went to sleep after we stopped chasing him. I hear Finn nearly crapped himself though, he was working on converting an old emitter into a space heater when the nafalli went right up over his head from behind.”
Captain Valance laughed, actually laughed aloud. Stephanie may have seen him do that five times in the more than four years she had been aboard.
“Can I say something sir?” She asked quietly.
“Any time, you've been crew longer than anyone aboard.”
“Well, it's just that saving lives seems to suit you.”
Captain Valance just looked at her for a moment. She looked tired, not as tired as he felt, but it seemed like she wasn't working for the money just then. “Thank you, too bad I'm about to kill Burke. That is unless he starts working on this encryption.”
“I'm sure you can convince him sir,” she said with a crooked grin.
He walked towards the doors then. All eyes were on him and he made sure to thank everyone who was helping in passing. They looked frayed, most didn't know how to do what they were doing but the few who did were happy to instruct and they had fallen into a rhythm. The compassion and care he watched people exhibit as they handed out fruit and rations of basic nutrients from the galley was unbelievable. He had never seen that side of his crew before. Their efforts were not without reward. The slaves were very grateful for the help and most of them had to take a moment to make it known.
One complained at getting so little food and another slave who was helping with the line stepped in front of him. “You have as much as everyone else has gotten, and there are many waiting. Be happy, and don't get in everyone else's way!”
The statement seemed practised, as though it had been given several times and the volunteer looked to the Captain after the mildly irate slave walked off. Captain Valance nodded his thanks, to which the issyrian smiled in return and continued watching the front of the line.
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